An-Pan Man: Language and Culture in a Japanese Children's Cartoon
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-1994 An-Pan Man: Language and culture in a Japanese children's cartoon Debra Jane Occhi University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Occhi, Debra Jane, "An-Pan Man: Language and culture in a Japanese children's cartoon" (1994). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 388. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/jan8-8nkv This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. 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Order Number 1359251 An-Pan Man: Language and culture in a Japanese children’s cartoon Occhi, Debra Jane, M.A. University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 1994 UMI SOON. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AN-PAN MAN: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN A JAPANESE CHILDREN’S CARTOON by Debra Jane Occhi A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology Department of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 1994 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © 1994 Debra Jane Occhi All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The Thesis of Debra J. Occhi for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology is approved. chairperson, Gary B. Palmer; Ph.D. rung- Committee Member, John J. Swetnam, Ph.D. {.Exar&ning'Committee Member, George Urioste, Ph.D. ty^RSpr^ntative, Mayumi Itoh, PhT). / Dean of the Graduate College, Ronald W. Smith, Ph.D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 1994 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT This thesis examines a Japanese children's fantasy story, An-Pan Man. an animated television cartoon. The cartoon employs stereotypical characterizations that are a) defined by language use, especially politeness markers encoded in referents for self and other, and b) exhibited through enacted nonverbal behavior. Since the episodic An-Pan Man story is directed toward a young audience, it can be considered as a presentation that models appropriate and inappropriate language and behavior to children through the media of popular culture. I present an interpretation of culturally specific identities established by language use through translation and interpretation of the cartoon assisted by native-speaker consultants. Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii LIST OF HGURES vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2 LINGUISTIC THEORY AND JAPANESE POLITE DISCOURSE 5 Introduction 5 Brown, Levinson, and the Rational Model Person 6 Brown, Levinson, and Japanese Politeness Research 11 Japanese Terms of Address 14 CHAPTERS METHODS 21 Origin of the Research Project 21 Research Methodology 22 CHAPTER 4 LINGUISHC DATA 25 Words Referring to the Speaker 26 Boku 26 Ore 27 Watashi/Washi/ Atashi 28 Words for the Hearer 29 Omae 29 Kimi 29 Anata/Anta 30 -Chan/-Kun 31 -Me 31 -San/-Sama 32 CHAPTERS THE CHARACTERS OF AN-PAN MAN 33 Characters as Individuals 33 An-Pan Man 33 Jyamu Ojisan 34 An-Pan Go 34 Batako-San 34 IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Cheezu 34 Kare-Pan Man 34 Shoku-Pan Man 34 Baikin Man 35 Dokin-Chan 35 Characters in Context 35 CHAPTERS WHAT MAKES A HERO? COMPARISONS OF AN-PAN MAN TO AMERICAN CHILDREN'S CARTOONS 44 Japanese Children's Cartoons 44 An-Pan Man 45 Comparison to American Children's Cartoons 49 CHAPTER/ CONCLUSIONS 51 APPENDIX 53 REFERENCES CITED 60 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF HGURES Figure 1 Respect and Formality 18 Figure 2 Flowchart of Japanese Suffixes of Address and Reference 18 Figure 3 Referential Choices of a Forty-Year-Old Male Elementary School Teacher 19 Figure 4 Repertoires of Personal Pronouns for Men and Women 19 Figure 5 Japanese Boys' Second Person Referents 20 VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 Introduction This thesis examines the use of linguistic and cultural stereotypes as models for behavior in a Japanese children's cartoon, An-Pan Man. that has been popular in Japan for the last twenty years. Available in printed form since 1972, presented since 1984 as an animated television cartoon and in 1993 as the subject of a motion picture, An-Pan Man has evolved from a printed manga 'cartoon' to a television show fanimei and a movie. Its characters are widely used as a marketing device for various products including food and toys. Its longevity and popularity would suggest that it has appealed to at least one generation of children. But children are not the only consumers of cartoon culture; manga and anime are art forms with wide appeal and historical significance. In Japan, cartoorüng is an artistic tradition dating at least as early as the 12th century; as a genre it is widespread and popular with all age groups (Schodt 1983:28). An-pan. a common Japanese confection, is a bun (pan, 'bread') filled with sweetened adzuki bean paste, an. An-Pan Man has a head of an-pan. In the cartoon, An-Pan Man flies over the countryside, looking for those in trouble. He usually offers portions of his head as food to those in distress. His antagonist is greedy Baikin-Man 'bacteria' who attacks An-Pan Man and the other characters with his germy blue tongue and other weapons of Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. putrification. Other characters, who will be described in a later section, reinforce the food theme of the cartoon. As with other dramatic narratives aimed at children, An-Pan Man is intended as a contribution toward the socialization process of its viewers (Swetnam 1992). According to my consultants, the idea that television presentations affect the behavior of their young viewers, although much debated in America, is generally accepted in Japan. In her study of the An-Pan Man manga. Anne Allison (1992) described the two main male characters, An-Pan Man and Baikin Man. as positive and negative role models for Japanese children. Alison describes An-Pan Man as a representation of the sarariiman "salaryman" worker. She also regards the cartoon as a valuable tool that enables its young readers to cope with stressful issues in their own socialization through vicarious identification with the self-serving Baikin M an. The animated version of the An-Pan Man cartoon enhances the manga's textual descriptions of each scene with visible action and verbal discourse. Intonation and nonverbal behavior embellish the plot. Through the juxtaposition of An-Pan Man and Baikin Man. positive and negative values of idealized Japanese culture are displayed. They and the other characters exhibit personalities that correlate to stereotypes of Japanese behavior. I analyze the characterizations presented in An-Pan Man using theories of sociolinguistics and cultural linguistics (Palmer 1993). The analysis includes data obtained through consultation with native Japanese speakers. I discuss the language and non-verbal behavior of the characters separately and in relationship to one another. Identities defined in the analysis are compared to those found in American hero cartoons as well as to relevant Reproducad with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.